Jinto: of Sadness and Joy
by Gadalla Rune
Summary: No one really knows what Naruto has been through in his life... until now...
1. It Begins

**Jinto: of Sadness and Joy**

Chapter One

_-By Gadalla Rune-_

Naruto stood before the massive wooden gates of Konohagakure. Like two behemoths they stared him down, beckoning him to the unknown. To the world outside of Konoha. He still remembered the first day he had walked through those gates to the forests outside of his home. He had been part of team seven then, with his teacher Hatake Kakashi and his teammates Haruno Sakura and... Uchiha Sasuke...

The blonde shook his head in a vain attempt to disperse the memories that pained him so much. They were almost like a family back then. It had only been nine months since he had graduated and become a part of team seven, but now that seemed almost a life time ago. Team seven was no more, and even though he would say different, Naruto couldn't honestly see his team being reunited in the near future... or ever for that matter. Again he shook his head, _"Can't let something like doubt get me down now! I'm about to go with Jiraiya-sensei and get way stronger so I can bring that teme back! Just like I promised Sakura-chan."_

Naruto looked around, and saw that the Toad Sannin had not shown up yet. _"Where is that ero-sennin anyway? He better not be peeping again dammnit!"_

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity to the hyperactive blonde -a mere five minutes- he realized Jiraiya was going to be late, much like his other one-eyed sensei before him. Shrugging his orange-clad shoulders and letting out a repressed sigh, Naruto took off his back-pack and sat down next to the guard station, laying his head onto his pack. He proceeded to lace his hands behind his head and close his eyes, enjoying the sunlight and allowing his mind to drift to the earlier events that took place in the last three days.

The guard stuck his head out for a moment to see what Konoha's number one prankster was doing -just in case- and after seeing the blonde with his eyes closed obviously day dreaming, simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to reading his little orange book of smut.

Naruto's mind wandered. He purposely curbed his thoughts away from earlier that week. Steered away from the memories of his fight with Sasuke in the Valley of the End. Tried to forget his failure to uphold his promise to the girl he loved. Instead he focused on a mere three days ago when he had awoken from a teme-induced coma to find himself in the hated hospital and covered in bandages.

* * *

Tsunade and Jiraiya had been the ones to greet him when he woke up, complete with a gaggle of his peers who had mentally been included in Naruto's list of most important of precious people.

Kiba had been there with Akamaru, cracking jokes and bad-mouthing Naruto's condition as he was wont to do. He had come up and slapped Naruto on the back causing whatever the Kyuubi hadn't been able to heal yet to explode in pain. The Inuzuka had found his head sporting several smoldering lumps for his troubles, caused by his teammates and an irate Hokage.

Shino and Hinata had been there as well. Shino had simply nodded and stated his content in seeing Naruto quickly making a full recovery. Naruto, unlike many, had grown used to Aburame nuances and could tell that his friend was extremely relieved, even if it was hard to tell so. Hinata had mumbled and stuttered repeatedly and seemed about to faint every time she looked up enough to see Naruto's bandaged body. But, Naruto got out of all the whispered stutters, that she was happy and relieved to see that he was okay as well.

Neji and Lee from team nine were there. Neji expressed his condolences, the only one to say anything about Sasuke at that point, while Lee spouted and screamed about the Fires of Springtime Youth somewhere in the background.

Shikamaru had been sleeping in the back, and was awakened by his other two teammates when Naruto came too. "You are too troublesome sometimes Uzumaki. Too troublesome." was the only thing the Nara said before he made his exit, but he was smiling the entire time.

Chouji was quick to follow, though he shouted something about going out with Naruto to barbeque sometime before he rounded the door in pursuit of his lazy teammate.

Naruto was truly touched by everyone worrying about him so much. It stirred something deep inside his chest and made him wonder if this was what is what like to have a family. A real family, not the highly depressing one he had with team seven.

Eventually, everyone filed out of his hospital room after wishing him well and telling him to get better soon, until there was only Tsunade, Jiraiya and one other person in the room with him. The two Sannins stood near the door so they weren't interrupting Naruto's friends, though they looked on curiously at the one remaining person other than themselves, wondering what she had to say exactly.

Naruto hadn't noticed her till everyone else had left the room, and when he realized who it was standing next to his hospital bed staring at him, he tried his hardest not to make eye contact. He looked anywhere, but at her. He had made a promise to Sakura to bring back the teme he considered his brother, because he loved her, and she loved Sasuke. He was more than just a little hurt when he didn't see her amongst the friends who came to check up on him. The only thing that came to mind was how he failed her... of course she didn't want to see him! He failed for the first time to keep his promise to someone, and to the one he loved most importantly. He didn't want to think about how much she probably hated him right then.

Instead he focused on trying to not look at the girl standing almost uncomfortably close to him. There was one other girl he remembered who probably loved Sasuke as much as Sakura did, and she was staring at him right then. Naruto expected screaming, hateful words, and probably a lot of slapping to happen within the next few seconds. He was so positive she was going to blame, just like Sakura was probably doing right then. So needless to say he had been surprised when she actually spoke to him.

"Naruto? Look at me... please?"

Against his will, Naruto found himself slowly looking up into the saddest pair of blue eyes he had ever seen. It broke something inside of him when he realized two things simultaneously. One: his promise to Sakura as good as applied to the person standing in front of him as well, meaning he had failed her too. Second: he remembered seeing such sad blue orbs before... when he had stared at the mirror in his own home before going to bed every night.

"Ino... I..."

"I don't blame you."

Naruto felt his eyes widen, and the words catch in his throat. "Wha...?"

"I said, I don't blame you Naruto." Then Yamanka Ino did what the Konoha's most unpredictable ninja least expected.

She hugged him.

Naruto could only freeze in place at the unexpected touch as Ino continued. "Its not your fault, Naruto. You need to stop blaming yourself, and start forgiving yourself." Ino gave a light squeeze of his shoulders before letting go and taking a step back. "I forgive you."

Then Naruto watched the blond girl turn around and leave, almost as if in slow-motion, as he found himself still frozen in place and unable to speak. Naruto was pretty sure he was going to start crying if he didn't do something, whether out of joy, sorrow or relief, he didn't know. Quickly he forced himself out of the haze of swirling emotions and focused on the only two remaining people in the room.

Tsunade and Jiraiya strode up to him with sad smiles on their faces.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, the memories of those moments playing through his mind. Tsunade had regaled him with how much she had worried about him, but because of her awesomeness he had her to thank for his swift recovery, her and the Kyuubi's chakra of course. That was quickly followed by a hug and a bop on the head, though she did it playfully, so it didn't really hurt... much.

After that she had left after exchanging a meaningful glance with Jiraiya, who had then proceeded to propose his offer of a training trip to Naruto. After explaining that it would be more than a year, or probably longer that they would be gone from Konoha, and the reasons why, Naruto was quick to agree. Jiraiya had then informed him he was allowed to tell whoever he wanted, but not to spread it around too much, after all they wanted to keep their leaving a secret in case of Akatsuki spies and the like.

Naruto sighed, he understood that the murderous Akatsuki wouldn't attack Konoha when they got wind of the nine-tails container no longer being within its walls, but Naruto knew that he was going to miss this place. No matter how much the majority of the citizens, and even some of the ninja -though not a lot anymore- still hated him, this was still his home, his birthplace. However, he wanted to get stronger, so he could protect said home, defeat the monstrously powerful Akatsuki organization, become Hokage someday, and so he could finally fulfill his broken promise.

Naruto felt a bit of depression grip him, it had been three days and even though he had checked all the usual spots he couldn't find Sakura anywhere. He had been let out of the hospital later the day he had woken up by Tsunade with a bill of clean health and a warning not to do anything strenuous, or else.

Naruto was later called to see the Hokage, who informed him that Sakura had already been informed of his training trip and had already started 'special training' so she too could get stronger. Still, Naruto wanted to talk to her face to face himself. Though at the same time he dreaded that prospect, and what he was pretty sure Sakura would say to him. Instead, Naruto left a note addressed to Sakura with Tsunade, asking her to give it to his pink-haired teammate when she saw her again.

Naruto had written and rewritten the letter countless times, crumpling up the paper each time he became dissatisfied and chucking it into the waste bin. In many of his first attempts he tried explaining his feelings for Sakura and their wayward teammate, and how he was so sorry for failing her. Finally though, he settled on what he thought one would expect from Uzumaki Naruto, and boisterously proclaimed in his letter that Sakura shouldn't give up, that he would get stronger and come back someday and would bring Sasuke back to her. Believe it!

Sad part was, Naruto felt nothing like he sounded in the letter. He was, for once in his life, filled to the brim with doubts and uncertainties. He wouldn't let it get to him though, he was Uzumaki Naruto for kami-sakes! He would get stronger even if it killed him. That much he was certain about at least.

The blonde's lips curled into his trademark foxy-grin as he remembered all the work he had done in the past twenty-four hours. Jiraiya had told him to get packed like he would for an extended mission, and even lent him a couple of his storage scrolls to use. Naruto, with the help of the storage scrolls had pretty much packed everything not nailed down, only leaving his furniture behind.

It only took less than an hour for him to pack, and with the rest of the day left Naruto realized that he was going to be gone for more than a year! There was _no way_ he was going to leave without letting Konoha know that it's number one prankster was going to return one day to torment them all!

Naruto began to giggle as he remembered all of his hard, yet rewarding labor in setting up the pra-... uh surprises! for all of his friends and loved ones. After all, if anyone would miss him at all, it would be them.

Naruto had planted his own home-made 'skunk-bombs' all over the Inuzuka compound and especially around the kennels where it would drive the dogs insane. He buried them and set them to go off just as he was leaving.

The Nara house would come home later that day to find their furniture in the backyard playing the pieces in a giant-sized shogi game... with strange orange-painted furniture obviously winning against the Nara furniture.

The Aburame's would find their kikai nests painted with orange swirls... that one was hard to do. The darn bugs kept getting agitated if he stayed near their nests for too long.

Lee and Gai would find their usual green jumpsuits replaced with bright neon-orange ones, though Naruto was still unsure whether they would dislike or actually love the damn things. Disputing whether it could be called a prank or not. While at the same time he took all of Tenten's training weapons and traded them out for heavy rubberized-replicas.

The Hyuuga estate would have their food stores completely restocked with ramen. The Akimichi clan would receive an 'official' notice from the Hokage demanding they go on a diet, and the village council would have all of their official papers replaced with pornographic material.

And of course, Naruto thought up of something nasty for Obaa-chan. She wouldn't notice it at first, but Naruto was able to procure a replication seal from Jiraiya's stuff and placed it underneath the massive stack of papers that never left the Hokage desk. Every time she would remove and sign one paper a replica of it would be made at the bottom of the stack.

He ,of course, set other random traps and pranks all over the village, but his crowning achievement was actually none other than the 'Yamanaka Flowers' shop. It had been his hardest prank yet, and nearly impossible.

Naruto began to snigger evilly, as the guard next to the gates poked his head out of the guard post to see what was so funny to the blonde.

Naruto began to laugh maniacally. It was ART!

* * *

Ino ran through the streets at top speed as she rushed towards the gates of Konoha.

Naruto was going. To. Die!

She had stormed into the Hokage office after she couldn't find the wayward blonde, demanding to know where one Uzumaki Naruto was. Tsunade was only able to get out "He's at the village gates, he's going..." before Ino had disappeared in a blur of purple and pale blond.

Tsunade had simply shrugged and got back to her paper work, wondering why the stack wasn't getting any smaller...

Ino had woken up that morning doing her usual routine of showering, brushing her hair, getting dressed and her general freshening up. She had felt good earlier that morning. She had no missions for the day, and she was only needed to watch the flower store until noon, and then she'd have the rest of the day off to herself. She had idly thought of going to check up on Sakura to see how she was doing with her new training, and find out who her new 'mystery sensei' was.

But then she had made her way downstairs, eaten breakfast and went to open up the shop for business.

… the horror...

"_How! How was any of that done in one night!? It's impossible and... and unholy!"_

Ino had been first-witness to the most horrifying sight in Yamanaka history. _"So... much... orange..."_

A certain master-prankster had somehow, someway did a complete makeover of the entire 'Yamanaka Flowers' store in single night.

Ino had walked in to find that the entire store... walls, ceiling, even the floor boards, counter and cash register had been -not painted- but _dyed_ and _stained_ orange. The flowers on all the shelves had been put into the storage room and replaced with every orange flower imaginable. The shelves were lined with them. The packaging paper, the pots, the ribbons, even the pruning shears and garden gloves were replaced with perfect orange replicas. In every corner of the store there were life-size cardboard cutouts of Naruto grinning maniacally, in the victory pose, with speech bubbles that said everything from "Orange is Beauty" to "Choose from our fine selection of ORANGE!" There was one even behind the counter that simply said "HOPE YOU MISS ME!" in all-caps. Then on the counter itself were the only normal looking plants in normal looking pots, which included a cactus, a bush, and a bedraggled banzai, with a sign that said "Take care of me please!"

Ino felt her sanity begin to slip and ran outside to confirm that this was indeed her family's store only to find that the store sign had been replaced with bold, orange neon-lights for letters, that spelled one simple horrible phrase.

**UZUMAKI FLOWERS! _"come get your Orange!"_**

Ino had screamed and screamed and screamed.

Now she ran as her chakra unconsciously leaked off of her blurred form in a blue haze, so enveloped in rage was she. He was going to pay!

Ino gritted her perfect teeth. Even when she had been so nice to him in the hospital only a couple of days ago! He deserved to get beaten within an inch of his life, not the kindness she had shown him...

Ino nearly stumbled as she leapt from one roof awning to another. There was no way she could take what she said to him at the hospital, back. She had meant every word and everything she did. She remembered looking at him when everyone else had left. They might not of noticed, but she was a Yamanaka, trained to read emotions and the thoughts of others. Naruto had exuded so much hidden pain and disappointment in himself that she could almost feel it in the air around him. She had wanted him to bring Sasuke back just as much as Sakura, but she could never blame him for not being able to do so. She had never seen the normally boisterous blonde so deep in the throes of depression, and she had felt her heart breaking for him, something she had never thought she'd feel towards the normally irritating loud-mouth.

Ino shook her head to clear her thoughts. It didn't matter if this was just his way of saying goodbye, he was going to _suffer_!

Ino had just the thing in mind. He was going to make him beg and he had no choice in the matter! She had just learned a new jutsu from her father last month, it was a far more powerful and faster moving version of the Shintenshin no Jutsu. Her father said it was more powerful and would allow far more access to the victim's mind, and to please oh please not tell her mother that he taught it to her before she had made chuunin!

* * *

Naruto sneezed.

"_Hm... someone must be thinking about me." _He thought pleasantly.

Suddenly he felt the stirrings of someone's killer intent brush against his senses, and it was directed at him. Naruto quickly jumped up towards his antagonist, simultaneously reaching into his weapons pouch when he stopped, realizing who it was. "Oh, Ino-chan! How's it going? Didn't think I'd see you before I left!"

The Yamanaka didn't seem to hear him though, causing Naruto to quirk and eyebrow in confusion. Now that he thought about it, she was breathing kind of hard, like she had run really fast from somewhere, and her eyes were wide and wild like she was.... angry.

"_Uh... oh..."_

Ino suddenly grinned sadistically. "Naruto... store... orange... must suffer..." she was having a hard time talking when gasping for air.

Naruto began to scratch the back of his head, as he broke out in a cold sweat and began to take a cautious step back, his eyes darting around for any available escape routes. "Heh heh... wow Ino, guess you saw the store? … uh, did you like what I did with the place?"

Ino made one hand seal, which Naruto instantly recognized as her family's signature jutsu. He began to turn and make a run for it, but it was already too late. _"Oh shit oh shit oh shit! I'm in deep shit now!"_

Ino caught Naruto in the frame made by her hands and channeled and molded the chakra just like her father showed her. _"Fukai Shintenkomi no Jutsu!"_

Naruto froze as he saw Ino's body go limp. _"Shit, she's probably gonna make me do something embarrassing to get back at me for painting her store orange!" _but just as soon as her body hit the ground, she was suddenly getting up, albeit shakily, but she was slowly getting up.

Naruto frowned. "Uh... what just happened?" He was pretty sure from what he saw of Ino's family jutsu it involved her taking over his mind and making him do whatever she wanted... but she wasn't out for even a second... and nothing happened!

Naruto was met by shocked and haggard blue eyes as Ino could only stare open-mouthed at Naruto in complete and utter silence.

"Uh. Ino? You okay? You look like you saw a ghost or something." Naruto was confused, she must have been too tired running here to get the jutsu off properly, and she must of used up too much energy because now she looked at least ten times worse than she did just two seconds ago. When she didn't respond and continued to stare at him dumbfounded, Naruto started to head over and see if his fellow blonde was indeed okay.

But suddenly, out of nowhere, a blur of spiky white hair and panting pervert swept out of the blue screaming at Naruto to "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!"

"Huh? Ero-sennin? 'Bout time you showed up you lazy... hey! What'chya think you're doing?" Jiraiya had grabbed Naruto and his bag and was currently trying to drag him bodily through the Konoha gates. "Hey Pervert what the hell are we leaving in a rush for!"

Jiraiya, the Legendary Toad Sannin, master of seals, warrior of countless battles, looked over his shoulder at his new apprentice with something akin to stark terror in his eyes. "She's... _coming_...!"

Naruto frowned for a second before a light-bulb went off in his head. "You were peaking again weren't you!"

"No! I was no-... uh, well, I wasn't...!"

Naruto squinted his eyes in a very foxy-like manner, "...and let me guess, Obaa-chan was one of the girls in the bath and she spotted you?"

Jiraiya hung his head in defeat. He got down on one knee in front of his apprentice. "Yes Naruto, you're right. I am wrong." He gently cupped his apprentice's face in an affectionate manner. "Now if we don't leave now, you're master is going to be made into gory paste beneath Tsunade-hime's pretty feet. And if you slow me down while we're running I'll leave you behind in hopes of her slightly abating some of her wrath upon your small frail body."

Naruto paled instantly. "Yeah sounds like time to leave to me."

Jiraiya simply nodded, "Oh and there's also a blonde man with a long pony-tail, who I believe is that one's-" he pointed at Ino, "-father. He was running down the street in this direction screaming something about how the 'Orange Demon must die!' or something like that."

Naruto grinned sheepishly, "Heh heh, about tha-..."

"No time for explaining my dear apprentice we must flee like the small mice we are!"

Naruto simply rolled his eyes and turned around to the still staring Ino. "Oi, Ino! Thanks for coming to see me before I leave! Ero-sennin and I will be back in little over a year or so!" With that, Jiraiya and Naruto disappeared in a swirl of leaves and wind.

Ino suddenly snapped out of her daze. "Huh, wha...? leaving?!" She began to run towards the spot Naruto was just in not even a second before hand. "Wait! NARUTO!" she stopped, seeing that he was no longer there and probably far far away already "Naru-...-to. You can't leave you big dummy, not yet! Not before you pay for what you did! Not...!"

"_Not after what I saw...!"_

Suddenly the memories overwhelmed her again, drowning her like some horrible storm at sea. She began to cry uncontrollably. The pain didn't seem to end. Ever.

The young Yamanaka didn't notice when she started screaming or when she was picked up by hands belonging to her father, the gate-guard and a half-nude Tsunade, still-wet from the baths.

"Ino, honey! Ino!"

"I don't know what happened! She was yelling for that boy Naruto, and then she started crying... and then screaming..."

"What the Hell? Shit! Jiraiya's going to have to wait. Inoichi bring her here, let me have a look at her just in case..."

The whole of Konoha joined in Ino's screaming as prank, after prank, after prank was sprung and wrought pure chaos upon the most powerful and proud of ninja villages.

* * *

Ino's mind slowly pierced the haze of darkness and soon found herself waking up in a what appeared to be a bed. A hospital bed. Complete with hospital room. Hospital intravenous tube, and hospital issued worried father at hospital bedside. For some reason that she couldn't describe Ino decided that she suddenly hated hospitals, even though she had always found them comforting to wake up in.

Inoichi instantly noticed when his daughter woke up and reached up to grasp her hand. "Ino, honey, are you okay?"

Ino felt embarrassed at herself for worrying her father so much, so when the waves of emotion threatened to rise up and engulf her in misery once again she pushed them back with what felt like a tremendous amount of willpower to her. "I'm... I'm okay daddy. S-sorry for worrying you." her voice was hoarse from disuse.

Inoichi instantly reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a glass of water that had been waiting for his daughter and held it to her lips to sip on as she propped herself on her elbow. Soon she felt the emotional exhaustion take over again and collapsed in the softness of the hospital bed. She hated the feeling of the bed for some reason.

"Well, it looks like you made a full recovery, though for the life of me I can't figure out what happened to you."

Ino looked towards the foot of the bed to see none other than her Hokage standing there looking over some papers attached to a clipboard. Tsunade walked over to the windows and gently opened the blinds to allow some sunlight in, causing Ino to squint for a moment.

"Huh? Recovery? I only passed out for a moment there."

Inoichi gave his daughter's hand a gentle squeeze, and when he saw he had her attention he let her know the news. "Honey, you've been out for nearly thirty-six hours." Seeing Ino's eyes widen in shock, he pressed on before she could ask any questions just yet. "I, and Tsunade-sama, found you at the Konoha gates just after you collapsed. We were just going to bring you to the clinic for a check up, and maybe some therapy, since I know you saw the state of our store, like I did after you. But, half way to the hospital you... you went into cardiac arrest." The jounin's voice cracked at that last part, and Ino feared her father was about to cry.

Hell, she thought she was about to start crying. Cardiac arrest!? But with the pressure of that storm of emotions pressing at the back of her mind, starting to cry again was the last thing she needed right now.

Ino looked to where the Hokage was standing for an explanation. Hoping this was just some joke, or prank that Naruto had planned before hand.

Tsunade's eyebrows crinkled into a frown as she thought of a good way to try and explain what happened. After all, she didn't understand what it really was that happened. "Ino... you went into cardiac arrest as we were headed to the hospital, just as your father told you. But, that's not all..." Tsunade looked on sympathetically at the girl's confused and scared expression, she felt just as confused. "You started to have seizures, and you started bleeding from you nose, eyes, and ears, indicating brain damage."

Ino gasped, but Tsunade held up a hand to stall any questions. "We got here as soon as possible. Once here, Shizune and I ran diagnostics on you to figure out what was wrong so we could try and help you." The Slug Princess paused. Here was when it got even more confusing. "It appeared that you're heart stopping, the seizures and the bleeding were all caused by what was happening with your brain, but it wasn't brain damage. I attempted a more focused and deeper penetrating diagnostic jutsu and found that instead of some sort of necrotic flesh or wound like I expected, your brain was developing massive amounts of neural pathways at an incredibly fast rate, which was what was causing the hemorrhaging and the seizures; and because your heart was trying to focus copious amounts of blood to your brain, it gave out." Tsunade stopped again to allow this information to sink in. "Now we were able to restart your heart, but we weren't able to stop the hemorrhaging or the seizures since we didn't know what was going on, and we had to let those run their course until your brain was done... doing whatever it was it was doing. We gave you blood and fluid, and some drugs to replenish your natural blood supply, slow down your heart and help rejuvenate your chakra reserves, since whatever was going on up there was draining your chakra at a frightening rate."

Tsunade looked the shocked girl in the eye, "Now, do you understand everything I just told you? I'd expect you as a genin to know enough about anatomy to understand what I just said, and as a Yamanaka to understand what the growth of new neural pathways usually mean. I say usually, because truthfully, as I've explained to your father I have no idea what was going on in your head."

Ino nodded slowly understanding everything but taking longer to comprehend.

Tsunade nodded, satisfied, "Well, you're stabilized, and we've run every test we can on you while you were out and we still don't know what's going on, other than what your father has told us about Yamanaka jutsu, though he says he's never seen something this extreme before. So I'm having you stay over night at least, before I release you and allow you to go home." With that Tsunade turned and left after checking that everything else was in order.

Ino turned to her father questioning him silently.

Inoichi sighed, "I informed the Hokage how some of our more powerful jutsus used for interrogation allow us to peer into the memories of our targets which of course causes us to develop new memories from what we've seen..."

"Neural pathway growth. You've told me about it."

Inoichi allowed himself a small smile, happy to know his daughter was listening during one of his lectures on family jutsu at least. "Yes honey. But that's just our brains normal response to seeing and experiencing new things. Occasionally, a Yamanaka who isn't careful can have said memory from a target do something that we call 'Malign Integration'. In other words, its not someone else's memory viewed from our point of view, but it becomes a personal memory that seats itself deep within our psyche. It's difficult to tell whether it is our own memory or not without all of our other memories to compare it to. So Integration happening occasionally isn't so bad, but I have heard stories of Yamanakas in the past who have had Integration happen too often, and started losing themselves within other people's memories that they became convinced were their own. This was due to too many different memories from too many people clashing and fighting for dominance with their own memories, making it difficult for them to distinguish what was their's and what wasn't. Some even couldn't tell who they were anymore."

Ino looked more and more frightened and once again had to fight back the dark emotions that threatened to swallow her whole. "Is... is that what happened to me?"

Inoichi shook his head. "Normally, I'd say yes it is. But, this totally new to me. For one, you don't even know any interrogation techniques that allow you access to someone else's memories, just the ones that allow you to control their bodies. Even the Fukai Shintenkomi no Jutsu that I taught you last month only gives you a deeper control of your opponents bodily functions. Allowing you to set a heart to stop or put their chakra expenditure on overload. Only really powerful or talented Yamanaka can use it to view memories. At the same time though, what Tsunade-sama told me was something similar to Malign Integration, but on a truly _massive _scale, as if someone just... I don't know... downloaded all the memories of their entire life directly into your brain within the span of a second or two. It seems related, but I don't know if its like actual Integration or if it'll work differently." Inoichi gave his daughter's hand another squeeze, worry reflected in his eyes. "Usually, Integration that's only a fraction of what's happened here would be instantly affecting you as soon as you woke up. You wouldn't know who you are, or who I am." He smiled and squeezed her hand again. "But, you seem to be yourself, answering to your own name and recognizing me and Hokage-sama, so I think we're okay."

Ino watched her father pick up a clipboard off the side table and hand it to her with a pen. On it was a sheet of paper and on it were a list of questions. Mostly mundane things, like 'what is your name?', 'what's your eye color without having to look into a mirror?' and 'where do you live?'

Before Ino could ask, her father pointed at the paper, "This is the test that we Yamanaka use to determine if a person has gone through serious Malign Integration or not, and whether its affecting them to the point that they can't work anymore." he tapped the paper once more, "there's one hundred questions, and I'd like you to answer them now, just so we can make sure."

Ino nodded her head slowly, "Okay daddy." It didn't take long to finish the test as her father watched her impassively, making sure not to give away any signs or answers as his daughter worked through the questions. Ino found the questions simple and postulated someone would have to be far gone out of their mind in order not to answer these... or just really stupid. Either way, it seemed longer than it really did, she tried not to rush, just in case she made a mistake on accident, but she really wanted to be alone right then. No offense to her father, she really did want him to keep an eye on her and make sure everything was okay, but the ocean of chaotic emotions was going to drown her any moment now, and they were stronger than ever, attempting to break down her willpower and come to the forefront of her mind so she could see... them.... again. The memories...

Finally she finished the test, and gave it over to her father, confident she had pretty much aced it. After a moment of looking it over, which seemed like an agonizingly long time to Ino, he smiled and nodded his head in approval, looking up at his daughter. "From what I know, you answered the test perfectly. You're not affected by Integration." Inoichi frowned, "Now, I just wish I could figure out, what _did_ happen to you." He looked up at his daughter searchingly. "Do you happen to have any idea what caused this, sweetie?"

Ino felt panic for a moment, but quelled it just as quickly, and put on her best face of innocence, the one her father always fell for. "N-no daddy, I have no idea what happened. One moment I was saying goodbye to Naruto and threatening to beat the crap out of him for what he did to our store, and then... I was out."

Inoichi nodded his head, still frowning, "Well, just so you know honey, repairs are going to be made on the store tomorrow. The Hokage was kind enough to pay for part of the damage the little prankster caused. Apparently he pranked nearly half the village in a single day if what I hear is true." He kissed her forehead and got up, stretching and groaning in pleasure. Apparently, he had been at her bedside for a while for the last day an half. "So don't you worry honey when you come home and you see a bunch of other genin and civilian workers running around straightening up the shop." He turned and headed for the door "I'm going to go get something to eat, I'll bring you back some food. If you need anything, the nurses are just down the hall, just yell for them."

Ino gave her best brilliant smile, "Thanks daddy."

Inoichi smiled back, "Anything for my little, girl." He closed the door behind him and proceeded to hunt for food out in the village.

Once he was gone, Ino counted backwards from ten to make sure he wasn't going to come back and surprise her. The moment she reached zero she threw her self backwards into the bed and let loose her hold on the tidal wave waiting to engulf her. Sobs wracked her body, so powerful that she could only gag and cry, unable to scream or make any noise other than small pathetic whimpers. Which was just as good, the last thing she wanted to do was attract the attention of the nurses.

"_How... how could he handle this? Feeling this **all **the time? Its too much! I've never felt so much pain!" _Ino's body shook uncontrollably as the waves and waves of sorrow and pain washed over her body relentlessly and almost seemingly never ending. She just wanted this to end... to just stop! She wanted to... _ I WANT TO DIE!!_

Suddenly she stopped... shocked by her thoughts. Did she actually just think that? As in actually thought it and truly meant it? Yes, yes she did. How then...

"_How does he deal with it? How does he smile all the time and act so goofy and happy twenty-four seven?" _

Ino's thoughts were stopped by yet another onslaught of depression and loneliness the likes that she, or she doubted anyone had ever felt before.

* * *

Ino was more than glad to find herself walking through her house's front door, but it wasn't for the reasons someone coming from the hospital would normally have. Ino was happy to see her mom, and only a little irritated with her smothering her daughter in worry, and she was happy to see her dad again who seemed to be a lot less worried than he was at the hospital the day before.

But, more than anything she looked forward to the seclusion of her room. She had barely been able to get her emotions under control before her father had come back with food the day before at the hospital. Again, she waited till he left, this time he went home, promising to be back to pick her up in the morning. Again, she abandoned herself in the memories and the horrible dark emotions they brought with them.

After giving her parents what she thought was enough time to fawn over and smother her, she told them she was tired after everything that had happened and wanted to get to bed early and hopefully sleep in. Her parents were more than happy to hear her sounding so healthy and both gave her hugs and kisses and wished her a good evening.

Ino forced herself to walk calmly to her bedroom, not wanting to make her parents suspicious. The moment she got her door closed and locked behind her however, she leapt for, and landed in her bed in a ragged heap. She had to cover her mouth to stop the sounds of pain coming from her throat as she began to cry once again. It went on for what seemed like hours, it was just like before, less images and more flashes of overpowering emotions.

By the time she had calmed down enough -or was it that she was finally becoming dull to the pain?- the sun had finished setting and the crescent moon had risen high into the sky. Ino got up slowly, feeling the need to stretch her limbs which had been in the fetal position, clutching herself for what was obviously several hours.

She walked to her closet and changed into a pair of white baggy pajama pants, and a purple spaghetti-string tank-top to wear to bed. Then slowly made her way to her window staring out over the street.

Her family's house was two-stories with Yamanaka Flowers right next door, and connected to the side of the house through a side door. She looked at the glowing neon lights of the sign that had been Naruto's doing. Apparently it was going to be several days before Yamanaka Flowers was back to normal, since they hadn't even fixed the sign yet. Which still said, 'UZUMAKI FLOWERS' in neon-orange. She didn't know why but she felt a strange sense of longing as she looked at the sign.

Ino shook her head at the strange feeling, and told herself to focus. "Come one girl, you can do this. The only way to get through this is... is to just dive in and get it over with."

Ino had been fearing having to do this since she tried to use that jutsu on Naruto right before he left. She had only meant to prank him back for being an ass, but it had horribly back-fired. From what little she had seen, and felt -yes little, for she could feel an entire lifetime's worth waiting to suffocate her- she was terrified that she would be too weak and that her psyche would break. Ino frowned trying to clear her mind of any remaining doubts and proceeded to lay down on her bed, rolling onto her back to look up at the ceiling.

When she had originally used the jutsu on Naruto she had only intended to take over his body to make him do something incredibly embarrassing as pay back. Since Naruto had run away it was a more viable option than her usual Shintenshin no Jutsu, since it was much much faster and harder hitting than the weaker Shintenshin. Her father had informed her that it was one of Yamanaka family's more powerful jutsu and it was classified as A-rank, due to the possible danger of delving too deep into your opponent's mind and causing Malign Integration. Even though it wasn't an interrogation technique meant to analyze your opponent's hidden memories, those powerful or talented enough could use it as such without having to make physical contact with the target. Ino frowned, she was pretty sure she wasn't powerful, not like some of her peers like the members of team Gai, or Sasuke or... Naruto. Maybe she had a latent talent in Yamanaka jutsu? If so she had to explore that later. Right now she had more pressing matters.

Her father had questioned her about that earlier that evening after she got home. It took some pretty good acting dumbfounded and pretending to not know what happened to dodge his questions. She was pretty sure he had suspicions, even if he acted like everything was okay. Hopefully, he would continue to act like that, and maybe even forget about it if she could just pull off acting normal around everyone else, and not allow those overpowering emotions to affect her in public.

She knew that when she had awoken from the jutsu, only a second had passed in reality. Her brain said differently though. If her father was right she had experienced an entire _lifetime's_ worth of memory and emotion. Problem was, that after all the trauma, passing out and being overwhelmed by _his_ emotions, she was having trouble remembering all these new memories she had acquired. They kept coming to her in flashes of violence and pain, accompanied with even more painful emotions.

She then took a deep breath and closed her eyes, using every ounce of her will power to _remember._

* * *

Ino heard the sound of dripping water all around her, and echoing in the distance. She opened her eyes to find that it was dark and difficult to see. _"strange, most people's minds are easy to see through."_

It didn't take long however for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting and she soon found herself staring at what appeared to be a flooded sewer system. _"Kami, what kind of mind-scape is this?"_ She was at a crossroads of sorts where the hallways extended off into the distance, their interiors eventually fading into gloom. Except one hallway, Ino was pretty sure she could see some sort of light in the distance.

Shrugging her shoulders at the strangeness, she started walking towards the light, her feet sloshing with every step. She hadn't experienced that many people's minds after all, just those she used the Shintenshin no Jutsu on during missions, and during training. But, she wasn't as experienced as her father, so even though she had never seen a set up such as this she didn't know if it was really all that strange.

While walking she noticed that the walls of the sewer seemed to be composed of stone, and were cracked, flaking and obviously water damaged. Along the walls and ceiling ran rusty iron pipes that continuously dripped water, explaining the flooding she was currently wading through. Now that she thought about it, the water seemed to be getting colder and colder the closer to the light she was getting, until it was ice cold and she had to wrap her arms around her to stop herself from shivering.

Finally the tunnel had ended and she was almost blinded by what seemed to her as bright light, though in actuality it was still pretty dim. The tunnel ended into a great room that could have housed a small training ground. The ceiling seemed to disappear into darkness, and she couldn't tell where the light was coming from, but that was common in mind-scapes. Light was just there, provided by the imagination. The one defining feature was what seemed to be a gargantuan cage that took up the entire wall opposite of her. With giant squared bars that seemed to made of some unknown material, and like the ceiling, she couldn't see the tops of them.

There was a simple piece of paper plastered to the two center bars of the cage with a kanji that said 'seal'. Ino frowned, this was... weird. She had heard of people locking away memories that they didn't want to remember, but she had never seen or heard of anything like this. She began to slowly walk towards the cage, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Less than halfway there, Ino was stopped in her tracks by a low rumbling that caused the water on the floor to vibrate all around her. "...huh?" It was too late before she realized that the rumbling sounded an awful lot like some sort of growling.

"**Is that you, brat?"**

Ino instantly went to her knees, getting her skirt wet, not that she cared since she was clutching her ears. Whatever it was it was _loud_, and more importantly she suddenly felt weak because the voice carried a malice she had never heard before, not even from natural born killers like that crazy-woman, Anko.

"W-what?"

Suddenly two large red lights appeared behind the bars of the cage, partially illuminating the pitch darkness behind them. It took Ino a moment to realize that they were in fact colossal red eyes, with slit pupils like a cat's. Ino started to back-pedal on all fours in a panic as the two eyes looked around and suddenly narrowed as they focused on her.

"**Hm!? What's this? You're not the, brat."**

Ino had to hold her ears again, it was even louder now! She felt a wind swirl around her and shift her clothes. She came to the conclusion that whatever it was, was sniffing her.

"**Hm... a Yamanaka. That would explain this... little surprise."**

Ino's eyes widened, it could tell her bloodline just by sniffing her?

"**Why don't you come closer little human? I can explain what's going on better if you're closer."**

Ino got a sinking feeling, and instinctively knew that she couldn't trust whatever this thing was. She shook her head slowly, getting up in preparation to flee if she needed to.

Ino just as quickly found herself on her rear again, screaming in pain, as the... thing let loose an earth-shaking roar. **"Come here you little bitch! I'm hungry! It's not like I've been able to eat since I've been trapped in this disgusting excuse for a life-form, and a human soul is just what the doctor ordered!"**

Ino was shocked. "What? You're trapped _here_? Inside Naruto!?"

It suddenly grinned, exposing its monstrously sharp teeth like some twisted Cheshire-cat from Alice in Wonderland's worst nightmare. **"Yes. I suppose that is its name isn't it?" **Suddenly it began to laugh, which was just as loud as when it roared, causing Ino's eardrums to nearly explode. **"You don't even know who I am, do you little girl?"**

Ino tried standing up again, and finally managed. _"The damn thing is behind bars, idiot! If it could get to you it already would've dammnit!"_ She stood straight and looked at the monster defiantly, "N-no, I don't, and I'm not sure I want to." There, that was better, at least there wasn't fear in her voice... not much anyways.

The monstrous beast chuckled sadistically at that, which was barely manageable on Ino's ears. It strode forward with great booming steps, and what sounded like a tail constantly swishing back and fourth, exposing its features to the light emanating from the rest of the chamber. It stuck its paws and snout through the cage bars and Ino could see the its face, its reddish colored fur, and in the shadows behind it, its... tails.

"**Recognize me now little human?"**

Ino wasn't so confident in the cage's bars anymore. She started backing up slowly and was pretty sure she was going to start hyperventilating if her rapid breathing was any indicator. Though why you needed to breathe in a mind-scape was moot at this point.

"**Go ahead. Say it."**

"N-n-no... it can't be..."

"**SAY IT!!"**

"... the Kyuubi no Kitsune..."

Ino turned an ran towards the tunnels behind her, not caring if she was headed towards the darkness, as long as she wasn't in that room! The demon's booming laughter followed her for what seemed like hours.

Ino finally stopped after awhile, surprisingly out of breath. _"What? That's not right. I'm in someone else's mind! I shouldn't have to breathe!"_ but she found that she indeed had too. _"Wait, I'm the one who put myself here! I can just cancel the jutsu and get the hell out of here!"_ Idly, she wondered what she would do when she got out and was confronted by none other than the boy that housed the most powerful and destructive of all demons. Right now though, that didn't matter. She just had to get the hell out of here.

She closed her eyes to better help concentrate and formed the ram seal with her hands, cutting off her chakra flow into Naruto's mind.

She opened her eyes to find that nothing had happened... she was still in the sewers. She closed them and tried again.

… and again.

… and again.

The sewers were instantly filled with the booming laughter of the demon fox, it reverberated through the walls, causing flakes of plaster and stone to fall off, and made the fetid sewer water vibrate and splash around her ankles.

"_Oh no... I can't leave." _She knew it was because of the fox. It had somehow trapped her mind in here!

She had to find someway out of here. She gritted her teeth, she was going to beat the _crap_ out of Naruto once she got out of here!

She looked around her and realized she was in her original starting spot, the sewer crossroads. She focused her mind on the other three directions and started down one only to stop. She felt... something. It wasn't the same malice she had felt coming from the Kyuubi, but it was still a horrible feeling. She couldn't explain it. She turned around and headed down one of the other tunnels, hoping it would lead to a way out of here.

Hours seemed to pass in the dim light, and Ino noticed it was getting lighter as she walked... she also noticed the fetid water was getting colder again. She stopped when she hear breathing at the end of the hallway where it was getting lighter.

"**Why'd you stop for? I thought you were coming back to play... hahaHAHAHAHA!!"**

Ino spun on her heel and fled in the opposite direction, running till her legs were sore and she was back at the crossroads again. After regaining her breath, she concluded that the path must of looped around. She took the other tunnel path this time, sure she was on the right track now.

Again, after what seemed a long time, it started getting lighter the farther down the tunnel she went, and the water began to grow colder. She stopped again, not liking the sudden deja vu.

"**Heh heh... lost are we?"** the voice came from the end of the tunnel, just like last time.

Ino swore and ran in fear. Every time the Kyuubi talked, its evil and malice would wash over her, piercing her soul and attempting to rip her sanity to shreds.

She returned to the crossroads, and tried again and again. Taking side paths that she hadn't notice before, always hoping they would help her get out of Naruto's mind. But, every time she would get near the end of the path, the Kyuubi's sadistic voice would be waiting for her, mocking her vain attempts at escape.

She sat and cried back at the sewer crossroads, the demon's laughter occasionally booming through the hallways to mock her.

Ino clenched her fists in frustration and more than a little desperation. _"How long have I been in here? I need to get out!"_ Her father had once told her that the human mind-scape was unpredictable. You could spend hours in one and emerge seconds later, or a mere minute in another and come out to see an entire hour had passed by. Those Yamanaka with enough talent could control this time difference, and Ino put as much will power into her thoughts as she willed it to be the former and not the latter.

She got up slowly, disgusted that she was soaked from head to foot in sewer water by now, and slowly turned to face the only path she had yet to take. Again, as she approached, that horrible feeling enveloped her, and to her horror it started getting darker rather than lighter. She stopped not sure that this was a good idea.

"**You sure you wanna go down that way? I'm a demon, so it doesn't matter to me... but, what I understand about humans, taking that path could change you... damage you."** the Kyuubi's sinister voice could be heard as if from a long distance away, but Ino could understand what was said, no matter how quiet it was.

She forced herself to take a step forward, and then another. Anywhere was better than here with that bastard fox!

She idly wondered if that was actually true though as the cloying darkness surrounded and swallowed her.

"**Heh, don't say I didn't warn you... little human..."**

* * *

**A/N:** Alright that's the first chapter of my new story. Let's take a walk through Naruto's mind in the next chapter.

For any of you wondering where I've been, and why I've started a new story instead of updating my other two, go to my profile to find out. Also, when ever I decide to make up jutsu I'll post it here in the author's notes, and tell you what the name means.

**Fukai Shintenkomi no Jutsu:** (Deep-diving Mind Body Change Technique) A-rank, Long range. Same as the Shintenshin no Jutsu, but the user's chakra moves incredibly fast, especially compared to the slower Shintenshin. It's also more powerful, allowing the user to control their target's base motor functions, such as heartbeat, metabolism, and chakra control. Exceptionally talented Yamanaka can use it to scan other's memories as well from a distance (a.e. Most Yamanaka interrogation jutsus require skin on skin contact).

_Note:_ though Ino may be exceptionally talented, the only reason why she was affected by something similar to Malign Integration (especially on such a massive scale) was because of the Kyuubi's doing. As you've seen Kyuubi's influence causes Naruto's mind-scape to work a little bit differently than others. There will be more on that in the next chapter.


	2. I'm Sorry

**Jinto: of Sadness and Joy**

Chapter 2

_-By Gadalla Rune-_

Ino suddenly woke up. Her eyes flying open to stare at her ceiling, though she didn't really see, she wasn't really paying attention to anything.

"_Oh Kami..."_

The Kyuubi no Kitsune was inside of Naruto! There was no way that was some figment of his psyche. The way his mind-scape didn't work like other people's, where the normal rules of mind-walking didn't apply. The most powerful of demons was inside of Naruto, and from what little Ino knew, the only way to do that was to have it sealed there. But, why anyone would want to seal a demon within in a boy... unless, he was actually the demon in disguise!?

Ino sat up and frowned. No, that couldn't be right, if Naruto was actually that _thing_ inside of him, he would've killed them all by now, and there was no way he would've been the dead-last graduating from the academy. Did Naruto even know that he had the most powerful of demons sealed within him?

"_But... we were taught that the Kyuubi was killed by the fourth..."_ Something niggled at the back of her mind, she tried to ignore it though, whatever it was she had a feeling she didn't want to know. It wouldn't be ignored, however, and Ino soon found herself coming to a conclusion that she didn't want. See, she may have been seen as a bimbo by most everyone, especially her peers, but she was smart, with written test scores near the top of the class. Only Sasuke, Shino and Sakura beat her there. Shikamaru would've too if he wasn't so lazy. Not to mention the lazy Nara was the smartest person she knew, and she happened to be one of his best friends and hung out with him on nearly a daily basis.

Ino felt dread clutch her heart as she forced herself to openly say what her mind could not. "If the Yondaime didn't kill the Kyuubi, that means he sealed it within... oh my god..." But that was twelve years ago! Naruto had only been a baby! "How could he... how could HE!" Ino suddenly found herself unsure of what she thought of the hero of Konoha. He had saved the village yes, but at what expense?

Did anyone else know this? Ino had a sinking sensation that yes, yes a lot of people knew this. Probably all of the ninja, especially the late Sandaime, and the current Godaime probably knew too. She wondered if anyone else knew that wasn't a ninja. The blonde found herself remembering things she would've never have even bothered to wonder about. The way Naruto was ignored, how he was treated... Ino suddenly had a flash of memory that she thought she had forgotten. It was so long ago.

"_Naruto... I can't play with you anymore..."_

"_W-what? Why? I thought we were having fun..."_

"_I-I'm sorry, Naruto..."_

Ino held her hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp of pain, a single tear slid down the curve of her cheek. Her mother had told her not to play with the boy called Naruto. She had said the other parents told her he was a bad influence, and possibly dangerous. How could she have done that to him? She should have ignored her mother and... and...

Ino forced herself to calm down. Even though Naruto's powerful emotions weren't threatening to overwhelm her as much as in the past two days, they were still there, and if she let herself get stressed out she was going to lose control again.

She looked at her alarm-clock. Six a.m.

Had she been meditating on her-... Naruto's memories that long? The entire night had gone by without her noticing. She sighed, she had been about to dive in again to try and remember the rest of what had happened on her trip through Naruto's mind, even though she felt an extreme amount of fear about it. Those horrible feelings of loss and sorrow that kept trying to destroy her came from somewhere and she knew she was going to find out the next time she explored his memories.

She didn't have any explanation for it, but she felt an obligation to finish what she started. First, she needed to in hopes that she could come to grips with this and not eventually lose her sanity. Second, she was more than a bit curious about this new enigma that was Naruto. Strange how she never thought of the hyperactive blonde as a mystery, she had been so sure she had him figured out. She felt shame at that, and realized almost everyone else thought the same way she did... _had_. The same way she _had_ thought, her view of Naruto was slowly beginning to change. Though, she wasn't sure she could really admit that to anyone.

Third, and most important. She felt she owed it to him. She owed Naruto for how she had treated him, not really knowing anything about him. Not that, that was an excuse, not knowing something doesn't excuse one's behavior. She had a feeling that there was either very few, or no one at all who understood Naruto... how lonely he must be.

Ino gritted her teeth, _that's_ why she owed it to him.

Luckily, the Hokage had given her a week off from missions, saying it was an _order_ and to try and not do anything too strenuous. Ino got up to get dressed and take a shower. Her sensei, Asuma, was probably already informed, so she would have to see him and the rest of her team today at their usual training ground so she could at least explain a little of why she wasn't allowed to do missions. They were supposed to be training today, but she wasn't sure what kind of training she could do that wouldn't be labeled as 'strenuous'.

She went to the bathroom taking off her clothes and ran the water to prepare for the shower. Before she got in she looked in the mirror and nearly gasped. She looked _horrible_! Hell, she felt horrible. Her hair was in disarray and it was limp and plastered to her with dried sweat. Dark circles could be easily seen beneath her eyes, and she was certain her skin had gotten a shade or two paler. She figured that her meditation last night didn't count as actual sleep since her mind had been working in overdrive the entire time, not to mention that most of this was probably due to what her mind had gone through and emotional exhaustion she was feeling right now. With how Naruto's memories were affecting her she probably wasn't going to be looking much better than this.

She got in the shower anyways. If she went around looking like she was on the cusp of death itself, people would start to worry about her, including her parents and her team. She took her time cleaning up, trying to make herself look as lively as possible. Applying only a minimal amount of make-up after showering and getting dressed seemed to work charms. After that, she went down stairs. Neither of her parents were there. Her father and mother were probably running the store right now, or at least attempting to direct the workers as they tried to repair the damage a single prankster caused.

Ino ate some breakfast and went through the side door that lead into the store.

She repressed a groan. The store was a mess. The shelves had been cleared and the counter moved so that two of the walls could be taken out and half of the floor was ripped up. After all, Naruto had gone above and beyond this time, not just settling for paint, but had stained the wood somehow with a bright orange color. It all had to be replaced.

Strangely enough she felt... warm. Warm inside from the sight of all the orange. Once upon a time she would have thought Naruto hated her or something for doing all of this, or that he was angry and somehow assumed that she pitied him in the hospital after he woke up from his coma. She knew deep down that wasn't the case. She was pretty sure her store did get special attention due to what she said to Naruto nearly six days ago; but it wasn't out of spite... more like he just wanted to show his appreciation, and the only way he could think of doing that while in the process of pranking everyone was by causing as much damage with this prank on her.

He was still going to get his ass kicked though when he got back!

Ino felt the warmth die away and depression start to claw its way up from some unknown pit. She wasn't going to see hide nor hair of the blonde for at least a year. When she thought about it, it had only been nine months since they graduated. A year seemed like a really long time right now.

"Hey pumpkin! What's with the long face? Is it because of the store? Don't worry honey, everything is gonna be as good as new in no time!"

Ino looked up to see her dad standing there, obviously waiting for the genin detail to arrive. She had an inkling that the only reason her own genin team wasn't assigned to this clean-up was because she was on sick leave. "I'm fine daddy, yeah the store is pretty depressing." It was true, but she was still lying about the real reason why she had lapsed into a bad mood again.

Ino turned for the door, "I'm out to go see Asuma-sensei and the rest of my team!" at her father's upset expression, she elaborated. "Not to train, just to explain a little for why I'm on sick leave for a week."

Her father visibly sighed in relief, "Heh, I should have known that. Well you get on. Not much to do hear. It may take a couple of days before they're done. Didn't realize that little brat had _stained_ the wood, can you believe that? Anyways, with the store getting fixed, and you on sick leave, you pretty much have the next few days off."

Ino smiled like she was happy and left the store.

Once she was outside she let the smile drop and sighed. It was getting easier for some reason to fake happiness, and she had only been doing it for the past couple of days. Another disturbing thought among disturbing thoughts bubbled up from the miasma that was her mind right now, _"Have I ever really seen one of Naruto's real smiles?"_ Because now she was pretty sure that that goof-ball smile he always wore was a mask, and like a mask, it hid what was behind it.

She turned to start the walk to her team's usual meeting place when she saw something strange near the garbage can. As she got closer she noticed there was what looked like a green leaf hanging out from beneath the trash can lid. She lifted it up and gasped at its contents. Inside was a cactus, a bush and a banzai, with a crumpled up sign that said _"Take care of me please!"_ and all of the cardboard cutouts of the orange clad genin. She pulled out all three plants and shifted around the cut-outs. Most of them were beaten up or torn to pieces to better fit in the garbage. Except one. It was folded up and when Ino pulled it out she remembered which one it was. The very first one she saw after Naruto had vandalized Yamanaka Flowers. It was Identical to the other ones other than what was written in its speech bubble.

"HOPE YOU MISS ME!"

Ino frowned. Why was she shifting through the garbage for all of this stuff anyways? The plants she could understand, Naruto had obviously entrusted her to take care of them for him, and she wasn't going to let him down on that account. The clean-up crew must of thrown them out, probably not even bothering to wonder if they belonged to the store or not. But, why was she pulling out one of his life-sized cutouts -at the same time she also wondered where he found a printer to make this big of a picture of himself- and yet she found herself unable to put it back into the garbage. Where it obviously belonged.

Ino looked around quickly, not seeing anyone on the street or peering out of their windows for some morning light she gathered up the plants and the cardboard Naruto, pumped a little extra chakra into her legs and the bottom of her feet and pushed off; launching herself with enough force for her to reach the second-story window that lead to her bedroom. She quickly opened the window from the outside and and crawled in. First thing she did was open her closet and put the cardboard Naruto in there, spraying it with deodorizer to get rid of the garbage smell. She then carefully put the three plants on the shelf beneath her window so they would get some light and found a half-empty water bottle lying around to water them with.

Ino crawled out her window and stuck her feet to the wall with chakra so she could close her window from the outside. She then leapt down to the street, landing gracefully and continued walking, trying to act her best as if nothing had happened.

"_What the hell was I thinking?"_ Ino had no idea why she stowed the Naruto cutout in her closet. If she had just taken the plants she could just walk back up to her room without having to worry about anyone seeing her. Though, she was pretty sure she still would have snuck through her window anyway.

"Whatever..." There wasn't any point in thinking about it now, she had to meet with her team, and she wanted to be there early.

* * *

"So... you had an accident -that was a random occurrence- and it almost killed you. So, the Hokage herself, who happened to be the one who helped you as well, has ordered you to take a week of leave."

Ino rolled her eyes in exasperation, Shikamaru wasn't asking, he was making a statement and obviously not happy with what she had told her team. Shikamaru, of all people, would of course notice that she was leaving big gaping holes in her story.

"Yes, which if I remember correctly you all were told before today." Ino was getting slightly annoyed with her teammate repetitively trying to dig for more info. _"He's not even trying to hide his intentions about it! Slob."_

"Hey, Shikamaru, let up. She told us all she knows, I'm just glad she's okay." Chouji was munching on some chips as always as he sat down in the grass next to their sensei. Ino was still getting used to the usually portly Chouji being so thin. He had explained about his clan's secret chakra pills and how they were the reason he looked the way he did. Of course, his stomach hadn't seemed to shrink in size like the rest of his girth, and if he kept eating like always did, he'd be back to normal in no time.

Their sensei, Asuma shrugged and took another drag from his cigarette, "Well, I'm happy you're doing better as well Ino, though you still look like shit. You think you should be out right now? You should probably head home and get some more rest."

Ino stifled her retort to her sensei saying she looked like shit. Truth was, she still did look like crap, even with the shower and combing and the make-up. She just didn't look like she was about to drop dead at any moment anymore. Instead she agreed with him, "Yeah, you're probably right sensei. I was just hoping to do something today other than lay in bed, you know?"

Asuma took another puff on his cancer-stick and reach into one of his jounin vest pouches, pulling out a small scroll. "Last time we talked about what area of expertise you all wanted to branch out in, you said you were interested in medical ninjutsu, Ino."

He tossed her the scroll, which she deftly caught, "What's this?"

"Its a scroll with advanced chakra control exercises that medic-nin use to sharpen their skills. It also describes how to use the most basic of medic ninjutsu and its various uses. I'd like you to read it and practice those if you feel up to it and want to." Asuma put out his cigarette on the bottom of his sandal, "Their not too strenuous, at least the beginning ones, as long as you don't exhaust your chakra. Plus, you can practice it in your own room."

Ino nodded, "Thank you sensei. I'll get started right away." With that she turned to leave her team's training field. Waving good-bye to Chouji and Shikamaru.

Shikamaru just shook his head, muttering something about 'troublesome' while waving good-bye. Chouji said his farewell through a mouth stuffed full of chips.

Asuma turned to the remainder of his team with a smile on his face, "Well, since we're one man down that means we won't be seeing any missions this week. Guess, we should do some training or something like that, huh?"

* * *

Ino returned home and opted to use her bedroom window again. There were about a dozen civilian workers and one of the new genin teams working about the shop and taking breaks outside her house where her mom was currently being the good hostess and handing out water and cookies. Ino had timed it to where she didn't have to interact with anyone and where her mother and father didn't see her.

Once inside the comfort of her own room she felt as if she could finally relax. She rubbed her neck fitfully, it was stiff with how tense she had been for the past few hours. It was hard having to constantly keep check of someone else's emotions that were trying to take over your own and still act normal around exceptionally perceptive ninja. She hoped Shikamaru would let his suspicions drop. Occasionally, he would worry at something like a dog with a bone, and other times he considered it a waste of his time and wouldn't bother. She hoped for the latter. As of right now, she had no intention of revealing what actually happened, and what she was going through because of it, to anyone.

Ino kicked off her sandals and plopped down onto her bed. She breathed a sigh of relief, she didn't like the idea of staying out all day lying to everyone she knew. She did have this strong feeling, this _need_ to train though. Who knows? Maybe after the chuunin exams, and what happened with Sasuke, she felt the urge to get stronger.

She looked up from her pillow to find her self staring at her window sill, where she had put Naruto's plants and found herself thinking of the missing blonde. _"I wonder what he's doing right now? Where he might be?"_ She hid her face in her pillow, _"And why the hell do I keep thinking about Naruto of all people? Oh yeah... because I have his memories now." _Ino felt no shortage of guilt for invading Naruto's privacy, but she didn't think this could be undone. For better or worse, Uzumaki Naruto was now a permanent part of her life. _"Well, he was anyways, its just now he's more...important..."_

"_...to me..."_

She didn't know how she felt about that really.

She tried to rest, after all, if last night was any sign, she wasn't going to get any real sleep tonight when she tried to remember everything she had seen in Naruto's head. But, no matter how hard she tried to sleep or think about other subjects, like Sasuke, her wanting to train, Sakura and her new training regime that she had no idea about yet, or anything else, her mind kept wandering back to a certain blue-eyed ramen-obsessed boy who had barely warranted much of her attention till a few days ago.

Ino rolled over onto her back and sat up, pulling out the scroll her sensei had given her. "Well, since I can't get to sleep, I might as well do something constructive with my time." As she began to read over the scroll, she wondered off-hand if medic ninja got to learn any cool and powerful combat jutsu...

"_Huh? Why was I thinking that?"_

Ino shrugged and got back to reading.

* * *

Ino yawned, it was getting late. She had spent the rest of her morning, the afternoon, and now the evening, reading the entirety of the scroll Asuma gave her. She even went back and re-read certain parts, and then got up to try some of the chakra control exercises... the easier ones, like forcing something small like a coin or pebble to hover just above your hand in one spot using only chakra. Which she found easy, until it called for juggling the small object back and forth between your hands, catching it only with your chakra and never letting it touch the skin of your hand. It took her nearly three hours until she could do it.

She went through almost all of the beginning exercises and wrote up a training schedule that would allow her to practice them in her free time. She wasn't going to even bother with the more advanced ones yet. Like eventually being able to do a hand stand on one finger while balancing that finger in a glass of water, using chakra through the finger to support the body, and controlling the output so as not to break the glass... that was freaking insane to Ino, but she felt a determination to get better that she had never experienced before and fully planned on eventually being able to do the insane exercises in the scroll.

She could already do the Shousen no Jutsu, the most basic medic technique and thought it was pretty cool how her chakra had changed to a green healing color and shimmered around her hand. It took her only half an hour to get the jutsu down. She wanted to test it somehow, but the scroll had explained that she needed to learn human anatomy so as to know what to do with the chakra and use it to manipulate the body's natural processes to heal it at accelerated rates. The scroll gave a list of assorted books to read that could be easily found in the Konoha library.

So in other words, she could do the jutsu, but she didn't have the knowledge to make it work, or the chakra control to make it work efficiently.

Ino blinked several times, her eyes growing heavy, she was going to have to do something about her pathetic chakra reserves as well. She had never thought of her amount of chakra as pathetic, more like normal since it was natural for girls to have more chakra control and guys to have more chakra capacity, a natural biological difference. But, after trying out the chakra control exercises and doing the Shousen no Jutsu repeatedly to at least make it activate right, Ino found herself getting tired when the sun was only now just setting. Admittedly, she was already exhausted from everything she had gone through in the past few days, but she could feel her chakra drained to the point that she was content to just pass out.

She would have to do something about that... she didn't like feeling weak. Ino frowned, registering something through the exhaustion-induced haze. _"Wait... why do I suddenly care about that now? Is it because of the chuunin exams, when we could barely hold off those Oto genin? Or when I wasn't able to beat Sakura even though I had family jutsu on my side that she didn't have?"_ Blue eyes, blonde hair, and a goofy-smile flashed through Ino's mind. _"Or... is it because of... _him_?" _

Ino closed her eyes and laid down on her pillow, not even noticing that she was in her purple ninja-outfit still. She had never cared about being weak before, just being attractive so that a certain Uchiha would notice her. Now though, she didn't know how she felt about Sasuke, with him defecting and everything that happened after that. She just didn't want to be weak anymore, she just wanted to be strong. _"Strong enough to be called a real ninja. Strong enough to defend my nindou. Strong enough to protect those precious to me. Strong enough... for... him..."_

Ino slipped into fitful slumber, where usually dreams would await her. Not this time though.

Only memories awaited the blonde kunoichi.

* * *

Ino walked down the ever darkening hallway. The sewer water growing colder and colder as she sloshed through it, until it was even colder then when she had seen the Kyuubi. It was so cold that she was now exhaling breaths of mist and shivering uncontrollably. The last words the demon had told her echoed through her mind, but she plowed on relentlessly, trying her hardest to ignore the cold... even more so to ignore the horrible feeling that kept growing inside her the farther down the hall she traversed.

But it could not be ignored. It was absolutely horrible. Whatever it was made her feel utterly hopeless, like she would never be able to escape, or that it was pointless to keep on living.

It was dark to the point that she couldn't see her own hand an inch from her nose. She was guiding her way with one hand on the wall, one shaky step after another. The wall was crumbling beneath her fingertips, and she would occasionally feel a vertical rusted pipe running along the wall.

Eventually some sort of light could be seen ahead, and Ino hoped fervently that this wasn't just another path to the Kyuubi and there really was no way out. The closer she approached, however, the more she hoped as the time went by without her hearing that horridly sadistic voice.

Suddenly, she wasn't wading through shin-deep water. She was walking on what appeared to be a flagstone floor, she looked behind her and all she saw was stone floor and moist stone walls and ceilings; no pipes or sewer water in sight. As if it never existed. That's when she noticed she could actually see, she removed her hand away from the wall, only to feel something wet come away with it, and had to stifle a shriek when she saw that the walls weren't moist with water, but with a thin layer of clear slime.

Ino wiped her hand off on her purple skirt and continued walking forward in the now changed mind-scape-hallway. _"Where am I now? If back there was where the... the... the Kyuubi was imprisoned, then this... this must be Naruto's actual..."_

She couldn't finish the thought. The fact that someone's mind-scape would be so dim and gloomy was starting to get to her, and she suspected that this wasn't actually normal like she had originally thought. _"Well, duh doofus, most people don't have an ancient and powerful super-demon in their mind either."_ But if this was his actual mind-scape, then she was hopefully on the right track of getting out of here.

Ino heard a noise to her right. Turning she saw what looked like an old wooden door. It was aged and cracking and seemed to be nearly falling off of its hinges. Ino recognized it instantly. _"A memory..."_ Her father had told her how most people's memories were stored in some meta-physical persona within people's mind-scapes. Some had them hidden within various receptacles, while others had rooms, or doors containing theirs.

Ino couldn't be sure though, Naruto's mind-scape was acting so differently from a normal person's. She found herself walking towards the door, and before she registered it, she was reaching for the door handle that seemed to be composed entirely of rust.

"_What am I doing? I need to try and get out of here! Though... this could be a way out for all I know."_ Ino was torn between her need to escape, and her curiosity. Something else was pulling her towards the door though, it seemed that feeling of hopelessness became more... compressed as she had gotten closer. Why she would get closer to something that made her feel more horrible she couldn't tell. _"Screw it..."_

Ino turned the door handle, which surprisingly made no sound and gazed at what was behind the door.

_She was in darkness. Everywhere around her was moist and warm. It felt safe. And in the distance and at the same time all around her she could feel a rhythmic sound. Th-thump... th-thump... th-thump..._

_Suddenly the world became compressed, uncomfortable, the rhythmic became faster and faster, till it was frantic. It was nearly painful now. She wanted out. She wanted OUT!_

_Suddenly there was pressure, she felt herself being squeezed and moved. Suddenly she was blinded by something alien. She had only known darkness, and now whatever this was, it was the complete opposite. Plus she couldn't hear the rhythmic thumping anymore, she could only hear other garbled sounds and higher pitched one as pain exploded within her. Within her lungs._

_She was screaming for the first time._

_She was born._

Ino fell on her rump, breathing heavily as the door before her slowly closed of its own accord, making no noise what-so-ever. Her heart was beating in her ears, _th-thump, th-thump, th-thump_.

"Oh my Kami..." if that's what she thought it was, she just got done witnessing the oldest memory anyone could have. She just experienced Naruto being born... through his own eyes.

Ino got up, feeling numb from this experience. She had never experienced anyone's memories like that. When she had practiced with her father, it had been like turning pages in a book, finding the one you wanted and reading it. It was like watching a movie in first-person through the main character's eyes. You felt like you saw what they saw, but you were utterly detached, sitting on a couch across the living room.

She had just gone through that memory as if it was actually her. Now, that she knew it wasn't a way out for sure, she numbly walked on. She felt something, but it was so small, she ignored it. The horrible despair of this placess atmosphere was beginning to affect her again.

She walked a little ways, but soon came to another door this one on the right again. This one was also on her right. She walked towards it. The oppressive despair becoming more tangible again as she got closer. _"What if its another memory?"_ She had to risk it though, she didn't know how Naruto's mind worked. Any of the doors that were probably memories, could actually be her way out. She came to realization that she would have to try every door, hallway or what have you in order to make sure that she didn't miss her way out.

This door was wooden as well, in slightly better repair than the last, but not by much. She opened it.

_She stared up into loving green eyes, instinctively reaching up to grab a hold of magenta colored locks of hair. She didn't know who this was, but she instantly felt an overwhelming love for this beautiful woman. She played with the hair between her fingers and tried to put it into her new found mouth. She was getting... hungry. Yeah, hungry. _

_The woman was making cooing noises and she was feeling calm because of it. Then the woman turned away to look at something else over her. She didn't understand what was being said, but it sounded pleasant._

_Suddenly she was gently picked up again, and this time was staring into eyes of deep blue. This one had long blond hair, and she felt love for this one too. The man looked so sad, but she felt so safe in his arms. His face became blurry as exhaustion won over hunger and she fell asleep._

Ino fell to her knees as this door too, closed on its own. _"Naruto's parents..."_ She couldn't recognize the father since Naruto had been falling asleep, but his mother was so... beautiful, and lovely. She knew that his parent's died in the Kyuubi attack, and he was born sometime near that fateful day. It struck a chord when she realized that this was probably the only memory Naruto had of his parents, and his conscious mind didn't even have access to it.

Ino felt that this was... unfair. To only have one memory of your parents, and not be able to call it up into your current memories. To be unable to remember such an important memory.

Ino shook her head to clear it and stood up again. That memory was just like the last one, where she felt she was in Naruto's place. She hoped she got out of here soon.

Again she walked a little and came to another old wooden door. This one on the left this time. She approached it, trepidation in every step. Before she had even touched the door handle though, it opened slightly ajar on its own. _"Weird."_ Ino shrugged and tugged it open anyways.

_She was laying in a cradle, and crying. She couldn't stop crying. All she remembered was pain, and now her belly felt like it was on fire. All around her was stonewalls lit by dim-golden candle-light._

_Across from the cradle were several figures. They were talking. She recognized two words"...Kyuubi..." and "...seal..."_

_She continued to scream._

Ino was able to stay standing this time, but she held herself and shivered. She recognized the memory for what it was. Naruto had just had the Kyuubi sealed within him... he didn't even know. He didn't even have a choice.

Though she still experienced the memory as Naruto, she felt she was getting better at keeping her own mind intact. She was able to recognize her surroundings, and a few words, even though she was in the memory of a baby Naruto.

Again she walked and came to a wooden door. This one was the newest looking one yet, though it still looked like it belonged in a bonfire. Ino reached for the door, and again it opened on its own, a little wider this time. She frowned, but ignored the confusion and opened it.

_She was in a hospital, in a cradle. Standing over her was an old man, with a white goat-tee and a female nurse._

"_This child has the demon sealed within him!?" Whispered the nurse._

"_Yes... he's the hero of the village. He has saved us all by becoming its container." He reached down and touched her cheek, smiling sadly. "Take care of him, and make sure he's well cared for. His parents died in the attack." He removed his hand, she missed the warmth and leathery feel of it, but didn't cry out. The cradle was comfy and her belly had stopped hurting. "Remember, that this is an S-class secret. If you tell anyone I haven't already told and without my explicit permission... you'll know what will happen."_

"_Yes Hokage-sama."_

_With that, the old man turned and left._

_The nurse looked down at her, and suddenly her face twisted into a nasty frown. "Fucking demon. You killed my boyfriend..." The nurse turned and left, but soon returned._

_She held something in her hand that reflected the hospital lights. She suddenly lifted her arm up in the air poising the shiny object just above her pointing down._

_She recognized it as a knife. But she-...-Naruto didn't. Sh-... -he reached up making cooing noises thinking the nurse wanted to play._

_The horrible scowl was still twisting what was otherwise a pretty face. "Now you die you little demon..." She whispered, between clenched teeth._

_The dagger hung there in her hand for a second._

_Then another second._

_Then another._

_She exhaled deeply, tears streaming down her face, "I can't... do... it. I c-can't... avenge them..." The nurse wiped away her tears and looked around to make sure no one had seen her. Then looked down at Naruto in the cradle, her facing forming into a scowl again. "Disgusting little monster..."_

Ino backed away gasping, finding it difficult to breathe. "Oh Kami... oh Kami... oh Kami..." She vomited. How she was forced to feel sickness and then vomit in a mind-scape was really a question for another time. After she had gagged till her stomach was empty, she scrubbed at her mouth with the back of her hand.

"_Oh my god, Naruto... That nurse was going to kill him! A baby! A defenseless baby, who just lost his parents and was just forced to become a prison for a horrible demon!"_ Ino felt surreal, current surroundings not withstanding, _"How COULD she! That BITCH! How could she not see that he wasn't a demon? That he didn't have a choice whether he would contain it or not?" _

After her vision stopped swimming she stood up again, numb once more from the shock she just received. One good thing she noticed, she was able to distinguish between her and Naruto now, but she still experienced it through his eyes, as him. And she felt everything he felt. Love, pain. The memories were intense beyond belief, but she had to keep going. She had to get out of here, she just hoped she could last that long.

She walked again, and again came to another door. She only had to take a step towards it, and suddenly the door slammed open on its own, basking Ino's mind with Naruto's memory.

"_You little monster! You stole it didn't you! Didn't YOU!"_

_Naruto could barely see with the tears in his eyes, "B-but, it w-wasn't me... it was (sob) it was wa-wa-one of the o-othersss..." He broke down into gagging sobs again as he saw the matron of the orphanage start to get red from anger._

"_You lying sack of SHIT! Who would believe a little demon like you! And trying to blame it on someone else! For Kami-sake, everyone knows little demons are little liars! Look at you! You're pathetic!"_

_The the matron started pulling off the leather belt that she wore around her perpetual apron. "Now, We're going to have a little whippin' session, till you tell me what you did with it. Understand you little cretin? And if I have to whip you till the sun sets, and till the sun rises again to make you admit the truth than that's what I'm gonna do."_

_Several of the other children were sticking their heads in the room to watch, sniggering the entire time at Naruto's plight. The matron didn't bother to tell them to get out, it was fine that they watched._

_Naruto began to sob harder and harder, knowing that nothing he did would make her stop..._

Ino back-pedaled, tears streaming down her cheeks in a constant flow. "Oh no...!" How could the people in the orphanage treat him like that! Yeah he was an idiot, but he was such a happy goof-ball. Who would want to do something like that to Naruto of all people?

Ino felt the sudden onset of guilt. She now regretted every time she had ever hit the boy in anger. How could she have done that to him? It didn't matter if he had annoyed her, she would never have done that to Sasuke, even if he had been annoying, everyone knew about what happened to his clan.

She just walked, feeling numb now. She had felt every pained sob, the feeling of hopelessness he had felt, and every lash of the belt on her body. The matron hadn't beaten him from sunset till dawn, but she had come close. He was only three in that memory... She stared at her feet, not even paying attention as she passed another door, the portal opening all on its own to hit her with another memory, even though she wasn't looking.

_It was the orphanage again._

_Naruto had been blamed for something that he didn't even know what it was. And now the matron was holding an orange-brown stuffed bear over a stove fire._

"_Admit it. Admit the truth you little shit."_

_Teddy was his favorite! He had found it in a dumpster one night not far from the orphanage, and he was only missing one button for an eye. "I-it wasn't m-me."_

_The matron had beaten him again, and he was nursing his bruises on his arms, and trying to see through one good eye and one bruised eye. Since he wouldn't 'tell the truth' during the beating the matron had gone into his room, found Teddy and was threatening to burn his most prized possession. His only friend._

"_I said... ADMIT IT!"_

"_B-bu-bu-but-t-t... i-it w-(sob)-wasn't... p-please...? p-please don't...?" Naruto's voice cracked as he pleaded._

_The woman stared coldly at the boy, pure and utter hatred reflected in her eyes._

_She dropped the bear in the fire._

"_N-nooooooo!" Naruto tried to dash forward to save his best-friend, only to be booted in the face._

"_There, that should teach you to lie, demon!"_

_The rest of the orphans made fun of Naruto the entire night as he sobbed into his pillow._

Ino stumbled, but kept walking, bursting out into sobs and tears of her own. "... oh (sob)... Naruto..."

She walked by another door, it too opening and scouring her soul with Naruto's time in the orphanage. And then another, and another, and another, and another. Ino stumbled on, she was passing a door every few seconds now, being immersed in Naruto's memories of the orphanage, over and over again.

None of them were good... and they only seemed to get worse and worse from the last.

Years seemed to pass to Ino. She experienced every waking moment Naruto had in the orphanage, and every dream he had had. He had dreamt of his Teddy, the only friend he had ever known. He dreamt of not having to live in the orphanage one day. He dreamt of being a ninja so he could be happy. She went through every lashing, verbal and physical, every insult and every lie directed at him, every sob, every tear, every heartfelt pang. Ino felt her psyche crumbling. How could they be so cruel to him?

The Hokage never found out, not till Naruto was almost six. The matron had always made sure not to bruise the boy before he went to see the Hokage for his monthly visits, and always threatened to hurt him far worse than she already had if he didn't keep his mouth shut.

Then one day, the five year old broke down in one of his meetings with the Hokage. It had taken him an hour, but the old man had finally gotten the story out of the blonde. Apparently after this, Naruto never saw, nor heard from the matron again.

Ino saw the memory of Jii-san -as she now referred to the Hokage in her own head- show the young boy his new apartment, and asked if he would like to join the academy to become a ninja as a gift for his sixth birthday.

Ino finally cracked a smile as the now much newer wooden door, closed on it own. _"That was probably the happiest day of his life..."_

But then despair returned. That wasn't all the pain Naruto had experienced.

" _Demon!"_

"_Monster!"_

"_Kill him!"_

"_Get out demon!"_

"_You don't have anywhere to run now..."_

"_Don't worry, this is only going to hurt a little..."_

"_... he's getting away! Get him!"_

"_Kill the demon!"_

"_Kill him!"_

"_KILL!"_

Ino staggered and stumbled. Naruto went through muggings, beatings, being chased down the streets on his own birthday; because by now she new that he was born the day of the Kyuubi attack. The festival that was so happy for everyone else, was a living nightmare for Naruto. The beatings he had received in the orphanage were always the worst on his birthday. He had lost Teddy on his birthday...

The always upbeat and happy blonde had never had a proper birthday. Had never had family waiting for him when he got home, and outside his dilapidated excuse of an apartment he was only met with hostility.

Ino felt the disappointment in Naruto when he found out that the store clerks were overcharging him, fear when they threatened to beat him and chased him out of their shops, hopelessness when he couldn't find anything to eat except shelf-expired ramen. At least now she understood why he loved the noodle soup so much, it had been his life-saving food source. She felt sadness, when his new set of kunai and shuriken were in fact defunct and utterly useless.

Ino saw how the adults looked at him, and how their own children looked at him due to their parent's influence. Cold stares were all he received.

Always the cold stares...

Ino witnessed the first time he had tried to play at a playground, seeing all the other kids having so much fun, and laughing, only to have all the parents take their children home; leaving Naruto behind. He had sat on the lone swing, and cried for hours.

She saw Naruto be abandoned over and over again. When he first met Sasuke... they had almost become friends, but Naruto never saw him again till he started the academy after their first meeting, and by then Sasuke had become cold and distant, probably not even remembering the blonde.

Ino experienced Naruto's first real betrayal...

_She had been at the park by herself, dreaming about being a ninja like her dad, because her daddy was the coolest person in the world to her. She was so sure she would be amazing and she would make her daddy so proud of her._

_That's where she had met a certain blonde boy for the first time. He had looked so lost and sad. He had stood there, not sure what to do, whether he should say hello or turn and walk away._

_He was so scared she would leave him behind like all the others._

_She had seen him and called out to him, asking who he was. _

"_Um... N-Naruto... Uzumaki Naruto." he barely whispered._

"_Well, I'm Ino! Yamanaka Ino." She smiled, the boy looked up, something akin to hope in his eyes. Ino suddenly grabbed his hand and started dragging him to the sand pit, "Come on! Play ninja with me! None of the other girls want to play cause they say girls can't be ninja. I think their wrong! You think their wrong too, right Naruto?"_

_Naruto started running on his own, holding onto her hand, cracking a small grin which turned into a full blown smile. He stayed smiling the entire time. "Yeah! _Any_one can be a ninja!"_

_Ino turned around when they got to the sand pit, "Yeah! That's what I said! But they... hey, why are you crying?"_

_Naruto, wiped away his tears, "N-nothing! I'm just r-really happy right now!"_

_Ino smiled in relief, "That's good I thought you were upset at me. Alright, I'm gonna play the beautiful hero ninja-princess, and you're gonna play the super-powerful evil ninja that I have to somehow defeat to save the world!"_

"_Huh? Why do I have to be the bad-guy!?"_

"_Because I'm a girl, silly!"_

Ino cried and smiled at that memory. That had been another one of the happiest days of his life... he had finally found a friend. They had met up at the park for nearly two weeks. She had talked about him constantly to her parents. Her father had acted surprised when she first said his name, then seemed so happy for the both of them. He said Naruto was a good kid, and let her out whenever she wanted to see him. Her mother had also been happy she had found a friend. Till one day...

"_Ino, I'm sorry honey. But, it's probably best you say your goodbyes to that Naruto boy."_

_Daddy hadn't been home at the time. He had been out on a mission._

"_But, But... why, mommy?"_

"_I'm sorry honey, I was talking to some of the other mothers. They say that Naruto is a really bad influence and could even be dangerous to be around. I don't want my daughter around someone like that."_

_Ino looked at her mother in confusion, which quickly turned to anger, "Naruto isn't anything like that! Naruto's my friend! He's amazing, he plays ninja with me everyday and laughs at my jokes and wants to spend all day with me and is always there for me when the other girls are being mean! Naruto is the best friend I ever had!" She was yelling at the top of her lungs by the end of the tirade._

_Her mother's face turned stern and slightly angry. "You listen hear young lady. You will _not_ use that tone with me missy, and you are going to do as I say, because I am you mother! Do you understand me? I mean it, no more going out to play with Naruto!"_

"_B-but..."_

"_I said no!" Her mother's face softened as she saw her daughter was about to cry, "Honey, I'm just worried about you. Look, tomorrow you can go to the park one more time... to say goodbye. But, after that, you can't see Naruto anymore understand?"_

_Ino cried and cried, but she relented, she had no concept of going against her mother when she told her to do something, and she didn't want her parents angry at her. She had felt horrible and cried the entire night till she fell asleep._

Ino almost stopped, she new what memory was going to be behind the next door... but she kept on.

"_I-I'm sorry Naruto, I can't play with you anymore..."_

"_W-what? Why? I thought we were having fun... weren't we...?"_

"_I-I'm sorry..."_

_Naruto's eyes began to tear up, "But why...? Aren't we friends? I thought you liked me!" The blonde couldn't stop the onrush of tears. "I like you Ino-chan! A lot! I don't want you to leave me! Was it something I said? Was it something I did? I-I promise you can be the hero princess next time, and I'll be the bad guy! I-I p-promise...!"_

_Ino was already crying by now two, trying to talk through her sobs, Naruto only called her Ino-chan when he was trying to be extra nice, she always wanted him to call her Ino-chan more often. "I-I-I'm s-sorry Naruto-k-kun... I-I..."_

_She rushed forward, hugging him when he collapsed to his knees in tears. He hugged her back, both of them not wanting to let go._

_They cried like that for a long time, till Ino pulled away, gave Naruto a sudden kiss on the cheek and turned and ran... leaving a broken boy behind..._

Ino finally staggered and fell, he knees scrapping the hard flagstone floor. "Oh Kami...! Naruto...!" She had run all the way home that day, into her house and into her room where she spent the rest of the day crying in her bed. Her mother had thankfully left her alone.

When her father had returned and asked why she wasn't out with Naruto she had retorted with "We're not friends anymore!" and stomped up to her room, to once again cry her young heart out.

Ino leaned forward, her face in her hands till her forehead touched the floor. Sobs wracked her uncontrollably, she couldn't make them stop, and she didn't wish to...

"I'm s-sorry Naruto... I'm so... sorry..."

The sorrow and betrayal he had felt was nigh overwhelming. She had done that to him! She had! How could _she_ be so cruel to him!"

For the next month or so, Ino had finally gotten up the courage to sneak away to the park where she use to meet Naruto. Hoping he would be there and possibly, maybe, go against her mother and still be friends with him.

...he had never shown back up.

She saw him meet Sakura for the first time, before Ino had met her and become friends with her. Naruto had saw the pink-haired girl being picked on about her forehead and had gone to defend her. Naruto felt kinship with Sakura, because she was being picked on too. She had been so friendly with him, but their friendship only lasted a single day. Sakura's mother was one of the civilian women who already knew about the 'demon Uzumaki Naruto'.

Again, Naruto was left behind. But, he had made up his mind this time, because he felt that he and Sakura were similar. If he ever saw her again, he would strive his hardest to make her remember him.

That explained the humongous crush he had on her pink-haired friend. She also understood now as she watched his memories, how him trying to get her to remember him and be friends again had eventually devolved into a hopeless crush where he looked to try and get any attention from the easily-annoyed kunoichi-in-training. Even if it was getting his face pounded in, it still meant she had taken notice of him...

Ino didn't see Naruto again till five years later when they were eleven and had just started their fifth year of the academy. By then she was already friends turned rivals with Sakura as they and a multitude of other fan girls fought over Sasuke's heart. Because, she realized, that's what she was back then, a fan girl. She had forgotten about her childhood friendship with a certain Uzumaki and had grown to disdain and disrespect him like everyone else, because everyone else did it.

The shame she felt was indescribable.

She had joined in the others when making fun of his odd questions in class, laughed at his antics, especially when he messed up. Yelled at him when he annoyed her, and like Sakura and many others, punched him when he really annoyed her.

It was a long time before Ino could get back up and start walking again. This time though, she barely saw the memories as they washed over her and into her, or noticed that the hallway floor had now turned into a staircase going upwards. Her eyes stared out, but were unseeing.

She saw his first day of school and how everyone laughed at him for innocently asking "What's a jutsu...?" The teacher had ignored him, and only paid attention to the other kids. And just like that teacher, almost every teacher after wards treated him the same way. They ignored him, yelled at him, punished him on imagined faults or over-punished him for something small. Some, even tried to feed him false information, and Naruto had to learn that it was wrong on his own.

Ino was no longer surprised or shocked by this.

She now knew where Naruto got all of his pranking tendencies from. If he was going to be ignored and going to get into trouble for no matter what he did, then he might as well get people's attention in the most sure-fire way... even if it was negative attention, it was attention nonetheless. Naruto had actually grown to prefer the curses and insults to the cold stares and the cold shoulder he was receiving constantly now that he was being 'trained' as a ninja.

Ino was witness to the birth of his mask. Naruto started putting on the mask of the upbeat happy idiot to prove to others, and more importantly himself, that he wasn't affected by everyone treating him like complete and utter shit. But no matter who he fooled, Ino felt the pangs of sorrow every. Single. Time.

Ino was about to think how sad it was that she had never seen Naruto truly smile, that she had only seen the fake mask he now always put up, even when he was feeling horrible.

Then she remembered, the memory of their time together as children. For those two weeks of bliss, she had seen nothing but Naruto's real smile. Ino clung to those two weeks like a life-line, and focused on the happiness that Naruto's smile brought to her ravaged emotions as she went through more and more of his memories.

Ino walked, stumbled, crawled and walked again. Years seemed to pass, and she wondered about things that felt stupid and pointless now. Like how the doors of Naruto's memory seemed to open for her, as if wanting her to see. Its as if Naruto had been waiting for nearly twelve years to tell someone all of these things, to finally get it off of his chest. Ino felt no shortness of depression at the thought that, that person Naruto would trust to tell such things could have been her... should have been her. Well truth be told it was, but it shouldn't of had to be like this. They were supposed to be friends...

"_...the best of friends."_

She wondered how much of this Naruto remembered, because the older doors she had first gone through were probably locked into his subconscious. She -someone else entirely- remembered more of Naruto's thoughts, memories, dreams and experiences than even the blonde himself, because she experienced them all as a near thirteen year old. She could remember it all.

All the while she focused on the image of Naruto's real smile. His true smile, that he smiled for _her_, and her alone when they were together. His smile had become something precious to her. It filled her with hope, and kept her sanity intact as Naruto's bone-crushing depression filtered through her mind and ripped into her soul over and over and over again.

Naruto's smile had become her world.

Ino found herself stopped in front of a brand new wooden door at the top of the stairs that signified the end of the hallway. All around her was polished new flagstone, with no slime on the walls. She hadn't noticed when it looked so much better, not that it mattered. The newer look merely meant it was easier for Naruto to remember, not how horrifying his memories were.

She didn't know how long she had been there in a daze, trying her hardest to focus on that wonderful smile with those beautiful azure eyes and wild blond hair. But it had felt like years... literally, years of walking, stumbling and crying while being exposed to every breath and moment in one Uzumaki Naruto life. Not every moment had been horrible. But the short reprieves of happy memory were so far and in between that they would seem insignificant if Ino didn't know how much Naruto treasured the happy memories that he could remember.

Ino registered that this door hadn't automatically opened for her.

She turned the crystal door-knob and opened what looked like a stained mahogany door.

Ino found herself in a long brightly lit hallway, the mahogany door closing softly behind her on its own. Before her, she could see sunlight filtering through glass sky-lights in the roof, and knew that she was finally getting close to leaving. But, suddenly didn't care as much anymore.

On both sides of the hall, the walls were lined with shelves that held small wooden pedestals, each pedestal held a crystal ball about the size of Ino's head. Ino stared at them confused before realizing these were memories as well, just like the doors. There were a lot of them, but she could see the end of the hallway, were another door of white-wood awaited, its paned glass filtering bright white sunlight. Ino knew it lead to the outside, and freedom.

She had two choices, she could just ignore the memories now and obviously make it out of Naruto's mind-scape finally.

Or she could finish what she had started and witness the rest of what made Naruto.

She noticed that the last memory in the 'dungeon-hall' that she experienced was the one of Naruto painting the Hokage monument, the day just before the academy graduation exam. That meant... _"All of these memories are from now to just nine months ago..."_

She stared awhile, not knowing what to do, and suddenly Naruto's smile flashed through her mind.

Ino headed for the first crystal orb that was in reach...

* * *

Ino woke up sobbing... She couldn't stop, and she wouldn't stop for the rest of the night. It was probably only midnight now.

Ino cried till her tears ran dry and her sobs were no longer making any noise, and yet she continued to cry. It was so much worse now, because it wasn't just Naruto's sorrow, it was her own now, and it made it just that much worse.

She didn't try stopping though, she let it run it course through her. Some subconscious self of her that was still only six years old had been waiting for this for a long time.

She owed him...

She wished he was here...

* * *

**A/N:** Well that was the end of chapter 2, hope you all liked it. Next chapter we'll finally finish up this roller coaster ride through Naruto's mind-scape.

p.s. Sorry for any grammatical errors (no Beta you see).

Now just so I clarify for any of you who don't understand... Ino went through Naruto's ENTIRE life up to just before he graduated the academy. This was due to the Kyuubi's influence on his mind-scape. The way Ino experienced his memories is also due to the Kyuubi, and how they were put in chronological instead of being a chaotic mess like most minds, is also due to the fox. Not that Kyuubi consciously does this, its just a by-product of his presence in Naruto's meta-physical being.

Ino experienced every emotion, thought, dream, physical sensation, you name it, that Naruto has ever had. Not saying she'll remember it all after having it all come at her at once in one night, but she'll remember plenty enough. Well, I'll be pumping out chapter 3 sometime here in the next few days.

Again I hope you enjoyed, and I would really like some feedback to see what you guys thought.


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